Summary for Wednesday February 3rd

Today, we began discussing the water quality implication of using coal to provide 1/2 of the US electricity. We began with a brief introduction to the geology of coal (where does it come from and what conditions are required for formation) and how coal is used to generate electricity. You should be able to describe both of these properties. Before delving into the water quality issues surrounding coal, we discussed the reasons that the use of coal is so prevalent in our energy portfolio:

high EROEI (even higher historically)
low cost per kWh (see comment below)
large reserves (the largest in the world)
inertia (previous investment in infrastructure and political will)

As I mentioned today in lecture, the low cost (cost in this case including only what the consumer pays in their monthly electric bill) of mining and burning coal is a result of the industry effectively externalizing some of their costs. One example of this is the human health costs that are associated with coal combustion which a study by the National Academy of Sciences recently estimated at $60 Billion per year (just related to combustion- not considering additional health costs related to mining). This study is very effectivley summarized here. We then briefly defined mountaintop removal mining with valley fill (MTM/VF) and talked about why it is used.

We also had a look at our energy portfolios (for the Earth, the US, Lex, and W&L.) On campus, we get our electrical utilities are provided by Dominion and, on average, 46% comes from burning coal. We then used the "what's my connection" feature at ilovemountains.org to link our electricity to several mines employing MTM/VF techniques in WV.

We finished up with a lead up to our reading for the day, an article in Science mag on mountaintop mining consequences, by discussing the differences in editorial rigorousness between peer-reviewed scientific literature and articles published in the mainstream press (Newsweek, NY Times, Ring Tum Phi, et cetera).

Friday, we will discuss water quality issues related to MTM/VF as well as issues related to the combustion and post-combustion phases of coal's life cycle. Please read the following:

EPA Makes Announcement on Two Proposed West Virginia Mountaintop Coal Mines looks at a recent EPA ruling on MTM/VF

Cleansing the Air at the Expense of Waterways by Charles Duhigg looks at water quality concerns specific to anti air pollution devices called smokestack 'scrubbers'. (Free registration required)

Tennessee Ash Flood Larger Than Initial Estimate by Shaila Dewan looks at the December 22, 2007 coal (fly) ash spill (the largest in the nation's history). (Free registration required)

The Coal Ash Case a NY Times op-ed discussing issues related to fly ash. (Free registration required)

Do not forget the outside lecture opportunity tomorrow in Reid Hall (Reid Hall is the building that is on your left as you walk from the library to the commons building.)

Slides shown in lecture today have been posted as a .pdf to Sakai.

The my maps page has been updated with the locations mentioned in today's lecture.